The invention relates to connecting sampling system components. An intrinsically safe, standardized electronic bus provides interconnection between analyzers and the mechanical components used for construction of sampling systems. The market requirement for this capability is developing and expected to grow rapidly. There is a growing customer awareness that one of the major causes of cost in the ownership of analyzer systems is the maintenance and operation of the sample conditioning system. Customers incur cost in this area in various ways:                the number of man-hours required for maintenance;        the level of training and experience required by the personnel involved;        the off-line time of the analyzer system while maintenance is underway.        
Customers may be strongly motivated to reduce cost of ownership and recognize that this can be done by improving sampling system design and using modern electronic controls to facilitate “smart” systems. However, the mechanical and electronic components required for this purpose may be cumbersome and expensive and the kind of improvements desired could not be built cost effectively or with the level of reliability needed. Recent advancements in mechanical component design, brought about as part of an industry standardization effort, have solved some of the mechanical part of this problem.
The invention is directed at solving the electronic part of the problem. Extractive types of process analyzers, may require sample conditioning systems. The purpose of the SCS is to                remove a quantity of process fluid from the process,        transport it to the analyzer,        alter its pressure and temperature as necessary to be compatible with the analyzer,        clean, filter and change the state of the sample as necessary to ensure that it can be analyzed,        inject the sample into the analyzer, and        ensure that the resulting sample is representative of the original process.        
To perform these functions, many mechanical components may be used, for example, regulators, flow controllers valves, gauges, filters, heaters, temperature controllers, liquid-drop out assemblies, vaporizers, and more. In general, these mechanical components may be discrete devices. They are manufactured by a variety of companies. They may be interconnected with hand-cut and hand-shaped tubing and tubing connectors. While components from different manufacturers may perform functions that are similar to each other, they are usually not interchangeable. Complete SCS packages are often large, requiring significant wall or floor space in crowded process plant environments. The entire assembly may be subject to significant maintenance issues including blocking, clogging and outright failure. Failure of the systems may not be observed until the reading from the analyzer itself is affected. Additionally, failure of the SCS can lead to damage in the analyzer.
Many alternatives to SCS design have been considered in the past. Some analyzer types (such as the LDS manufactured by SIEMENS®) make their measurement directly inside a process vessel which eliminates the need for an SCS entirely. Other types of sample conditioning involve “remote sampling” and “discrete” or “packet sampling” methods. The goal of these designs is to minimize the amount of process fluid that must be handled and therefore to minimize the maintenance requirements of an SCS. However, many analyzer technologies cannot operate without first extracting a sample from process. Therefore, various attempts have been made to resolve problems in more direct ways.
One technique is to create “smart” sampling systems. Such systems would be designed with parallel or alternative flow paths and back up systems and use automated controls to monitor operation and switch sample paths. In principle, a system could be built that offered 100% on-line time. However, all such designs have been impractical for most uses. This is because of the cost and size of the mechanical components involved and the lack of a simple and easy-to-use electronic interconnection system and controller.
Accordingly, a need exists for a device, method, and system for improving communication and compatibility between components of an SCS. There may be an additional need to reduce maintenance and training and experience required by the personnel involved.